Kevin Streelman

Streelman played at Royal Portrush two years ago when former champions Todd Hamilton and John Daly withdrew and he was called into the field this time on June 30 as the leading non-exempt player on the world rankings.

At the age of 42 he gave his best-ever performance in a major when he tied for eighth at May’s PGA Championship.

He reached a high of 36th in the world after he was a joint runner-up behind Tiger Woods at the 2013 Players Championship, two months after his maiden victory on the circuit at the Tampa Bay Classic, and then again when he won the following season’s Travelers Championship by a stroke with an amazing seven successive closing birdies.

Streelman was second with Matt Kuchar at the 2013 World Cup, albeit 10 strokes behind Australian winners Adam Scott and Jason Day. He was also the joint leader after the first round of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

He twice narrowly missed out on a third PGA Tour victory last year when he finished one behind Dustin Johnson at the Travelers Championship, where he posted closing rounds of 63 and 67, and was runner-up as well at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am behind Nick Taylor.